Search results

After a few months of being curious, I got myself one of the Chinese Vertical Hit and Miss engines and thought I'd share my experience of it so far. Straight out of the box it and first impression was that it was a very nicely machined and finished engine. I like the 'blasted-look' finish on...

I found this simple design for an engine in this youtube video - around the 1:15 mark it is shown and explained. I haven't seen a design like this before and it impressed me with it's simplicity. Does anyone know of any plans for such an engine or will this have to be my first "own design"...

I copied this idea from a post by Michael-au in his Peewee V4 thread and decided to give it a go. Very pleased with the results and it's super easy (if you have access to a 3D printer). First up, I modelled the underside of my cylinder head in a free online CAD program, then printed 2 copies...

Happy 4th of July to all the USA members! Mmmm hotdogs and fireworks, sounds good to me!

I'm finally calling my Rupnow Vertical finished so I thought I'd make a rare post (for me) in the Finished projects area. I abandoned the idea of mounting a fan for now and I still have to attach some rubber feet to the base but otherwise it's complete. Here's some pictures of how it turned...

I just stumbled across this video of human powered machines - the helicopter and ornithoptor are especially impressive. No responsibility taken for the time lost if you get sucked into a YouTube loop, or worse, try to build one of these things yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhm3XkW3srI

Does anyone know if laboratory power supplies like THIS are suitable for driving standard automotive ignition coils? I have one and it would be an easy option for a standard 'ignition box' that could be quickly changed between engines, but I don't want to blow the thing up unnecessarily by...

My wife bought me this 'microscope' from K-Mart for a whole $6 which clips over your smartphone camera. Surprisingly it does a very good job for the money. I've included a picture I snapped of the ball in a ball point pen. It's not a very good picture but the live view on the phone screen is far...

I've been dreaming about a DRO for my mill, even though there's no way I can afford one, and I was having a look at the Chinese stuff on ebay. I've found a remarkably cheap 2 axis unit - $272 AU shipped - and I'm wondering if anyone has any knowledge/feedback on it. There's very little info from...

I don't have an actual disability as such but I do have a chronic back injury which requires constant medication. Due to complications with my previous medication I've been changed to some different drugs, one of which affects my mental 'acuity'. Basically, I pretty much always feel like I've...

In my quest for a low cost ignition for various low speed engines, I've come across cheap ignitions like these LINK but I don't know anything about them. Does anyone know if they can be put to use on our models, what voltage they require, possible to trigger with points etc.? I emailed the...

I need a smallish ~4" travel linear actuator and I'm wondering if anyone knows of a common source they can be repurposed from, for cheap of course. I've seen them on ebay for around $60 from China but with the Chinese New Year and shipping I really don't have the time to wait. While I'm at it...

Yesterday I had a small aluminium piece about 1" in diameter, like a small cylinder head, and I needed to clean up and lightly polish the end after parting. The whole part was only about 3/4" in length so it was barely sticking out of the chuck at all. I successfully took a light facing cut...

Over the Summer I need to build a top secret apparatus for an experiment I'm assisting with at university and I've run into a design issue. I need to be able to manually inject something with the consistency of toothpaste (OK it is toothpaste) through a 2mm (0.080") hole, into an expanding...

I have a need of making a reasonably large piece of aluminium fairly flat and smooth, so I decided to finally make myself a flycutter out of some horrible tool steel I have laying around (49 minutes to manually hacksaw through the 2" bar!). I think it turned out pretty good. I tested it on...

I switched on my lathe today and it started straight up but was making a loudish humming noise. I shut it straight off then started it again and it made the same noise for a couple of seconds, then a 'pop' followed by something that sounded like 'pppppfffffffffffffffff' complete with a medium...

I've been out of my shop/shed for the last few months as I have returned to University (after a 17 year break) and haven't had the time to play. I finished my last exam for the semester yesterday and headed out to check the state of things today. What I found is that the place is full to...

I was running my lathe today and switched into reverse for possibly the first time ever. It's just an electrical switch that reverses the motor, not a back-gear. The first couple of times I stopped and started the lathe was fine, but then the motor started slowly one time, with an audible hum...

My wife just showed me this video that's floating around on Facebook. Probably not alot of use for engines but I'm sure most of us will find some use for it on some project. Haven't looked up a price but it's certainly intruiging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMAd4FpXpy4

The time has finally come to start my build of Bob Shores Peewee V4. I know I don't yet possess the skills I need, but I plan on learning what I need to know along the way. I've been busily collecting most of what I need, although I'm stuck on a couple of seals that McMaster-Carr refuse to...